Do you know that Heart Disease aka Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death among African American women? If not, it goes to show that we aren't necessarily aware of our health issues, let alone what we can do about it. Sooooooo, with this being black history month the National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease is doing their part to get the word out about this deadly disease and asking us to do the same. Here are some facts that we all need to know that can make the difference between life and death.

Born and raised in Queens, New York, Olushola, aka Shola, which means 'one who is blessed' in Yoruba, is a hair and makeup vlogger who will instantly become your bff in your head! Find out her fav hair care products, her top makeup tip, and how she stays body positive!

I'm looking at a picture of a friend on Facebook, about to throw up my chips. This girl had her baby around the same time as me, yet she looks like she should be on the cover of Fitness magazine and me, well, that's another story. I've been working on this for four years!Why is it taking me so long to lose this weight?Continue

Ever wondered what happened to Felicia from the cult film favorite Friday?

Angela Means may forever be remembered for her “Bye, Felicia” scene with Chris Tucker and Ice Cube, but now the actress and model has left behind show biz to run a vegan café in L.A. The best part? It’s proudly situated in the ‘hood.'Continue

I am ALL about the wellness train that defined 2017. I am not, however, the most well-versed on spending hours peeling, chopping and blending my nutrients into instagram- worthy mason jar smoothies. I used to be a start-my-morning-with-a-cup-of-coffee kind of girl, until I discovered my morning elixir 3 months ago, life hasn’t been the same.

It all started when I was traveling to India after all the mosquito born viruses were on a rise. I was essentially tired of inhaling chemicals and putting deet filled repellents on my skin. Naturally, I consulted the internet gods, did my research and found the trifecta that would soon be my holy grail; grapefruit, lemongrass and citronella essential oils. Shortly after finding the most effective natural remedy for bug repellent (not one bite!), I decided to invest in a cheap diffuser just too see what all the buzz was about

I’m not one to jump on the hype train y’all, with that said, essential oils have LITERALLY changed my life.Continue

"I am not flexible." That's the first thing I thought when I started practicing yoga. I hear the same exact words very often from my students as a yoga teacher.
Flexibility and yoga seem to be synonymous now. From Instagram to Yoga Journal, so many images are circulating of yoga practitioners touching their toes, doing splits, and practicing backbends.
There's so many reasons I would love to talk about yoga and flexibility so that we can all better approach our mats and observe our practices.

I was listening to an interview about the importance of eliminating what we consume and how what we don’t eliminate becomes disease. I had been practicing meatless Mondays on-and-off and would do a week of being meat free here, a month of it there, and always saw it as a reset before I went back to meat. This particular interview got me to thinking and I realized elimination was always easiest when I consumed more fruits and vegetables. I decided to start with a week of being meat free and I felt so much better after the 7 days that I just decided to keep on going. That was 5 months ago. My taste buds have adjusted and I don’t miss meat. Eventually, I’ll go vegan but for now I’m happy.

Being vegetarian or vegan is easy in your own home where you can prepare your meals. There are not as many choices once you venture out for meals outside the home, but there are choices that just require some research. The hardest part has to be family gatherings and the holidays. There will be vegetables at the gathering but they’ll probably have meat in them and for the vegans, it will be hard to find dishes not cooked with eggs, milk and butter. Fret not, you can still enjoy your holidays and be meat free by doing these things...Continue

I have a close friend, Janice, who always adds a piece of lemon to the water in her water bottle. I've always thought it looks pretty cool so in a bid to improve my water intake on a daily basis, I decided to add a piece of lemon to my water bottle too. After all, I've heard and read about the many benefits of lemons to our bodies. I found myself refilling my 16 ounce water bottle one or twice a day and was really proud of myself. Surprisingly, by the second day my lips, mouth and throat were feeling dry all the time and I started feeling dehydrated, so I thought that the answer was to drink more lemon water. After two weeks of this, I decided to stop drinking lemon water in exchange for plain old water, and the dehydration was gone. Now we can agree that lemon water has a wide range of benefits. It is supposed to help digestion, boosts the immune system, and is even safe for kids, in a more diluted form, so what was I doing wrong?Continue

It was winter 2012 and I had my fuzzy slippers on, sipping on a cup of tea with my feet up flipping through my copy of Essence magazine when I read something about Black women runners. I took a mental note and thought one day I’ll run something and went about my day. At the top of the year I met Shonda, my college friend for lunch, and she brought along another friend. Turns out, that friend belonged to the same organization I was reading about; Black Girls Run! I told her I was interested and in March I laced up my tennis shoes and went to my first Black Girls Run! I couldn’t run to the mailbox at the time, but something inside told me I could do this and I listened.

I
am a believer in the idea we all have some level of anxiety. We all
deal with our issues differently but anxiousness, I believe, is
universal. Although, how anxiety affects a person's life and emotions is
unique. Understanding an individual’s reaction to anxiety is hard
because it’s different and unpredictable. Because of that, for an
individual, anxiety is even harder to explain. Some do an excellent job
riding around the city with their woes. I, like a lot of folks I know,
do a decent impersonation of someone who can handle life’s struggles. We
call it, “fake it until you make it.”
Sad part is, some of us fakers don’t make it. Those who deal with a
heavier weight of anxiety have a much harder time faking it. I mean, I
talk about the things which trouble me but it doesn’t stop the anxiety
attacks. It doesn’t always stop my mind from wandering.

Whether you know it or not there are some pretty amazing reasons to become a vegan. Becoming vegan is not only great for your personal health but the health of the world. I believe that we all have a moral obligation to be our best. That best in my opinion is making a conscious decision to eat wiser and live better. Here are 14 amazing reasons to become vegan!

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The views expressed on curlynikki.com belong to the blogger Nikki Walton and do not necessarily reflect the views of TextureMedia, LLC, NaturallyCurly or their affiliates or any of the brands discussed or featured on curlynikki.com.